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WILLIAM BARTON ROGERS, 
First President and Founder. 



J^Ussacfmsetts ^mtitutt 
of Cecfmologp 



A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF ITS FOUNDATION, 
CHARACTER, AND EQUIPMENT 




BOSTON 

PUBLISHED BY THE INSTITUTE FOR 
USE AT THE ST. LOUIS EXPOSITION 



A 



5 N'07 




HENRY S. PRITCHETT, Ph.D., LL.D.. 

President. 



ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS OF THE 
INSTITUTE, 



PresUjent, HENRY S. PRITCHETT. 
treasurer, GEORGE WIGGLESWORTH. 
Secretarg, HARRY W. TYLER. 
Bean, ALFRED E. BURTON. 
librarian, ROBERT P. BIGELOW. 
ISursar, FRANK H. RAND. 
Registrar, WALTER HUMPHREYS. 
ftecor&er, O. F. WELLS. 



[31 



COURSES OF INSTRUCTION. 

THE Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a 
scientific school, or college, of industrial science, in 
which are taught the sciences and their applications 
to useful arts. The studies, exercises, and experiments 
of the school are grouped in thirteen four-year Courses, 
enumerated below. The work of these Courses is supple- 
mented by graduate Courses, summer schools, and the 
Lowell School for Industrial Foremen. 

I. Civil Engineering, including Railroad and Highway 
Engineering, Bridge Construction, and Hydraulic 
Engineering. 
II. Mechanical Engineering, including Steam Engineer- 
ing, Locomotive, Mill, and Marine Engineering, 
and Heating and Ventilation. 

III. Mining Engineering and Metallurgy. 

IV. Architecture, including Design, Construction, and 

Landscape Architecture. 

V. Chemistry, with Five Options. 

VI. Electrical Engineering. 

VII. Biology. 

VIII. Physics, with an Option in Electro-chemistry. 

IX. General Science. 

X. Chemical Engineering. 

XI. Sanitary Engineering. 

XII. Geology. 

XIII. Naval Architecture. 



[51 



jEassacfmsetts ^nstttute of Cecfmologp 

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 



THE Massachusetts Institute of Technology was opened to 
students in the year 1865, four years after the granting of 
the charter to Professor William Barton Rogers, its first 
President, and his co-workers. The original plan of President 
Rogers made provision for a " comprehensive, polytechnic college " 
which should provide a " complete system of industrial education." 
The element of manual training was added in 1877 by President 
Runkle, as a result of an exhibition in Philadelphia of the results 
obtained in Russia by instruction of this kind. President Rogers 
further proposed that provision be made for evening lectures, for 

_ ,, the benefit of the public, and also for the establish- 

Foundation. r r ,. c 

ment of a society or arts to serve as a medium for 

the announcement of scientific discoveries and inventions. The 
first part of this proposition is represented in the present Lowell 
School for Industrial Foremen ; the second part, in the Society of 
Arts, for a long time the governing body of the Institute, and now 
an important means of stimulus to its intellectual life. 

The connection of the Institute with the State has been marked 
by a generous grant of land in what is now a central position in 
Boston. The State has aided the Institute also by a gift of $100,- 
000, by a fund of like amount for scholarships, and by an allotment 
of one-third of the national grants to the State under the Acts of 
1862 and 1890. Since 1895 it has added a gift of $25,000 per 
annum. The larger part of the endowment of the school is, how- 
ever, derived from gifts by private individuals. It is somewhat in- 
adequate considering the high cost of scientific education ; but the 

[7] 



W$t spastfactmsetts ^xvstitutt of tEecijnologi? 

increasing reputation of the Institute and the recent large bequests 
of Henry L. Pierce, Edward Austin, and others make a brighter 
outlook for the future. 

THE Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a Scientific 
School or College of Applied Science. With a view to 
preparing its graduates for future usefulness in various pro- 
fessions, it aims to provide both broad general education and specific 
technical training. While the applications of the sciences to the 
useful arts are taught in the Institute of Technology, the primary 
purpose of the school is education. Not only are mere rule of 
thumb and technical methods constantly subordinated to the acqui- 
sition of principles, but those principles are studied with the pre- 
dominant purpose to expand and develop the mind, to exercise the 
powers, and to train the faculties of the pupil. In the four years 

required for graduation, it is sought to make the 
Purpose of ... ..... , , 

,, _ . „ pupil observant, discriminating, and exact, — in short, 
the School. v F ' . u r u 

a well-educated man, in the truer sense or that 

term. As one means to this end, the Faculty of the Institute has 
uniformly maintained that some proportion of philosophic study 
should be combined with scientific work. Accordingly, in every 
Course, for at least three years out of the four, such " liberal 
studies " as history, political economy, and English composition 
and literature are made part of the requirement for graduation. 

The chief purpose of the Institute, meanwhile, is to turn out 
graduates who have studied the scientific principles governing 
some one field of work, and have had a certain amount of practice 
in the application of these principles to some one technical pro- 
fession. Every student at the Institute is expected first to master 
the fundamental principles of mathematics, chemistry, and physics, 
which underlie the practice of all the scientific professions. He is 
then made familiar with the special problems of the profession at 
which he individually aims. His work should issue in a combina- 
tion of theoretical and practical knowledge. It should develop in 
him a taste for research and experimentation on the one side and 
for active exertion on the other. Especially it should qualify him 

[8] 




ROGERS BUILDING. 






■ _ * 




M 






V 



5 3 3*iISL4Kl 1 3 




KNdlNKKKlNli AND PIERCE BUILDINGS 





1 



CORRIDOR, ROGERS BUILDING. 



®!je $0m$M$umt$ y { n$titutt of Wttfywlogy 

immediately upon graduation to take a place in the industrial order. 
How far this object has been attained through the instruction given 
in the Institute, the roll of its alumni with their occupations will 
show. As a rule, graduates of the Institute readily find profes- 
sional positions where they have an opportunity to show what is in 
them, and to work their way upward as fast as they deserve. As 
a rule, also, the course of the graduate of the Institute is one of 
steady and even rapid promotion. 

A high standard of scholarship has from the first been main- 
tained. The success of the Institute, and the number of its 

graduates, show good grounds for the belief, in 
Standard of * , ' , , 6 c 5 , , , r 
_ , , , . which the school was rounded, that if young men 
Scholarship. ■ .' 7 . \ 

are properly appealed to, and given work which they 

themselves see to be worth doing, they can be brought to labor 
with energy and enthusiasm ; and that lowering the standard of 
requirements is not the way to make a school popular, any more 
than it is the way to make it useful. 

BY the catalogue of 1 903-1 904 the number of students at 
the Institute is 1,528, and the number of teachers 227, — 
a total which makes it the largest scientific and technical 
school in the United States, and one of the largest in the world. 
This great body of students comes from forty States 

and two Territories of the Union, and from over 

the Institute. _ A . r , 

twenty foreign countries. Among them are found 

about one hundred and seventy graduates of other colleges and 
scientific schools. Such students may usually, by proper arrange- 
ment of their previous studies, complete the Institute course in two 
years. 

Thirty-six classes have graduated, numbering about twenty- 
nine hundred persons, a large proportion of whom occupy posts 
of responsibility in connection with the industries of the nation. 
In consequence, however, of the rapid growth of the school, more 
than half of these graduates belong in the last eight classes, and 
thus have not had sufficient time for gaining professional dis- 
tinction. 

[9] 



1&\)t spaetfacimtfett* 3ltt0titute of ^ectmologn? 

On the list of graduates of the Institute is found a relatively 
small number of women. Much larger numbers have received 
instruction in partial courses. The number of women students at 
the Institute during the present school year (1903-1904) is twenty- 
six, some of them graduates of other colleges. 

The departments which women most frequently enter are 
Chemistry, Physics, Biology, and Architecture. While in the 
lines indicated women students almost invariably do good work, 
it is not expected that their number here will greatly increase. 
The Institute of Technology is, by the nature of the case, es- 
sentially a man's college, though the Corporation and Faculty have 
seen no reason why any person who wishes to do the work of the 
school, and is qualified for it, should be excluded by reason of sex. 

THE requirements for admission are substantially the same 
as the requirements for graduation from a good high school 
or from the English or scientific department of an endowed 
academy. The examinations embrace Algebra, Plane and Solid 
Geometry, Physics, United States or Ancient History, French, 
Admtesin German, and English Grammar and Composition. 
The average age of the entering class is a little over 
eighteen and a half years. Teachers are admitted to the Institute 
without examination. For those who can attend only in the after- 
noons and on Saturday forenoon, special provision and arrangements 
are made, to enable them, so far as possible, to take the courses 
for which they apply. 



[10] 




A CORNER OF THE GENERAL LIBRARY. 




PHYSICAL LECTURE ROOM. 






tElje $0u$mfyumt& ^Institute of ®ec^nolog^ 



COURSES OF INSTRUCTION. 

UNDERGRADUATE instruction at the Institute is given 
in thirteen four-year Courses, each leading to the degree of 
Bachelor of Science, and ranging from instruction in pure 
science, through the whole field of engineering subjects, to courses 
in architecture. The work of these Courses is, for the most part, 
prescribed, though a considerable specialization is possible as the 
student advances, by means of optional studies and thesis work. 
Choice of Course is made at the opening of the second term of the 
first year, when the differentiation in studies first takes place. 
With this slight respite, the student who is undecided at entrance 
has an opportunity to consult those who are better informed 
concerning the various Courses, and in some measure to ascertain 
his individual aptitudes for some of the fundamental subjects 
involved. 

The Course in Civil Engineering, established when the Institute 
was founded, is now one of the largest of the engineering depart- 
Civil and ments. The Course covers topographical en- 

Sanitary gineering ; the building of railroads, harbors, docks, 

Engineering. an d other works serving the purposes of com- 
merce and transportation ; municipal engineering, 
including the construction of sewers, water-works, roads, and 
streets ; structural engineering, including the construction of 
bridges, buildings, walls, foundations, and all fixed structures ; and 
hydraulics, with a consideration of the development of water power 
and other problems. All of these branches rest, however, upon 
a relatively compact body of principles, and in these principles 
the students are trained by practice in the class-room, the drawing- 
room, the field, and the testing laboratory. 

In view of the increasing importance of sanitary questions 
affecting the health of communities, a new branch of civil engineer- 
ing was recognized by the Institute in 1889 by the establishment 
of a regular four-year Course in Sanitary Engineering. This 
Course is essentially one in civil engineering, but differs from the 

[ 11 1 






(Tlir tBassacIjusrtts institute of (Ecctjrtoiogr 

regular instruction in that subject in that it omits certain general 
engineering subjects, and devotes the time thus gained principally 
to courses in chemistry and biology. In these it is designed to 
give the students such training as shall fit them to interpret 
properly the results of researches in sanitary chemistry and sanitary 
bioiogv, and to co-operate with chemists and biologists in profes- 
sional work. The Course devotes particular attention to the sani- 
tary side of questions of water supply and drainage, and discusses, 
among other things, the principles of filtration and the methods 
of purifying water and sewage, the relation between drinking 
waters and disease, the methods of disposing of sewage, and other 
questions relating to the health of communities. 

The Department of Mechanical Engineering, also one of the 
original departments, is now the largest in the school, having an 

instructing staff of nine professors and seventeen 
Mechanical , 

_. . . instructors and assistants. 1 he Louise aims to 

Engineering. . . 

give the stuaent a thorough training in the scien- 
tific principles that form the basis of all engineering, and to do this 
in such a manner that he mav be able, instead of reiving upon rule- 
of-thumb methods, to apply these principles to the solution of the 
practical problems that will arise after he leaves the school and 
enters active life. It aims not only to acquaint him with current 
engineering practice, but also so to develop the powers of his mind 
that he may be able, as occasions arise, to make improvements, and 
thus to keep abreast with the progress of the times. The students 
are required to perform tests in the engineering laboratories, and 
sufficient care is exercised in supervising their work to secure ac- 
curacy in the results of both the experimental observations and the 
computations. Moreover, the tests are performed under the con- 
ditions of practice ; and the apparatus and machinery employed are 
of practical proportions. 

In the work of the fourth year the option is given of courses in 
locomotive construction, marine engineering, mill engineering, and 
heating and ventilation. The course in locomotive engineering 
begins with a careful studv of the details of the more usual types 
of locomotives, and of the strength of the more important parts. 

["] 




SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS; CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT. 



'" • :■■■■■ ■■,. 



■ m 




HYDRAULIC FIELD WORK: LOWELL. USE OF CI RRENT METERS 



W$t Massachusetts institute of ^ectinologp 

The course in marine engineering includes a detailed study of 
the design and construction of single, compound, and multiple- 
expansion marine engines, with a discussion of their form, propor- 
tions, and efficiency, as well as of the strength of the several 
parts. Mill construction, together with the processes to be carried 
out in a cotton mill, is studied so far as to enable the student to 
take up intelligently the laying-out of machinery to best advantage, 
including the planning of the power plant and the distribution of 
power, all leading up to the designing of the complete mill build- 
ing. The course in heating and ventilation is planned to acquaint 
the student with the fundamental principles of the subject, and as 
much of their practical application as is consistent with the primal 
aim of the course. 

The mining and metallurgical laboratory was put into operation 
in the year 1871. Though previous to that time there were assay- 
ing laboratories in various schools, both in Amer- 
ica and abroad, the Institute laboratories were 

- ,- ■ „ the first in the world which were designed for 

and Metallurgy. & . . 

the treatment of ores in economic quantities of 

from five hundred pounds to three tons, and used entirely for pur- 
poses of instruction. The opening of new fields for the mining 
and metallurgical engineer has recently caused the Course to 
expand, from nine graduates in 1899 to twenty-seven in 1903. 
The policy of the department is to give the pupil the underlying 
principles of mathematics, physics, chemistry, mineralogy, geology, 
mining engineering, and metallurgy, as well as some practical 
knowledge of mechanical, civil, and electrical engineering. Thus 
equipped, he can after graduation take up specialized work, with 
the expectation of carrying it on successfully. Two options are 
offered, with a differentiation of work extending through the last 
three years of the Course. The first is a general course, adapted 
to the needs of students who prefer not to make an immediate 
choice between professional specialties : the second group of 
optional studies is arranged with reference to mechanism and the 
steam-engine, and is adapted especially for the iron and steel 
metallurgist. 

[x 3 ] 



X&\)t spassadmstttts ^institute of Cectjnolog^ 

When the Course in Architecture was established, in 1866, there 

was no American precedent to aid in planning the scheme of 

instruction. The work of the department was 
Architecture. , , , , , , , , 

planned, and has since been conducted, on a basis 

of the method pursued at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at Paris. The 
Course aims to give its graduates the ability to achieve grace and 
elegance in the expression of architectural ideas through an uner- 
ring and satisfactory adjustment of the structural parts. To ex- 
tended courses in the history of art and architecture, and instruc- 
tion in drawing, modelling, water-color, and pen-and-ink, is added 
a study of construction, including applied mechanics, graphical 
statics, and strength of materials, and also of materials, building 
stones, and working-drawings and specifications. For three years 
the students are continually engaged upon architectural design, and 
their work is examined and criticised before the class by a jury 
from the Boston Society of Architects. 

The work of the architect, aside from the aesthetic design of his 
building, requires a good knowledge of engineering construction. 
To meet the problems which may present themselves in ordinary 
practice, a sufficient training is given in the general option. Those, 
however, who desire a more liberal allowance of engineering 
studies have also the opportunity of taking an option in archi- 
tectural engineering, in which they are given a course in the 
theory and design of structures as rigorous as that received by 
students in civil engineering. 

During the year 1 899-1 900 the Faculty established an option 
devoted particularly to landscape architecture, including, be- 
sides a large amount of work in architecture proper, instruction 
in horticulture and landscape design, on the one hand, and in 
surveying, topographical drawing, drainage, etc., on the other hand. 
The neighborhood of the Arnold Arboretum, where' students in this 
option receive a part of their instruction, and the co-operation of 
the Department of Civil Engineering, make the Institute a pecul- 
iarly favorable field for such studies. 

The Course in Chemistry is intended to furnish a thorough fun- 
damental training in the science, and also to afford opportunity for 

[14] 



GTije $$K$mtyumt# institute of tEeclmologp 

specialization, when this is desired. A sufficient latitude in the 

selection of studies is allowed to provide both for students who 

intend to enter technical fields and for those who 
Chemistry , . r , , 

- _, , , desire to nt themselves to enter positions as 
and Chemical \ 

pi s g. teachers or investigators. With this purpose 

in view, five series of optional studies have been 
arranged, running through the last three years of the Course. The 
first of these, with a relatively large amount of instruction in me- 
chanical engineering and drawing, is recommended for those who 
look forward to positions in chemical manufacturing establish- 
ments where they will be called upon to superintend the running 
of machinery, and to take charge of various mechanical opera- 
tions. The second comprises the laboratory courses on all the 
special branches of technical analysis, — namely, those on water, 
air, and food analysis, and proximate analysis, — and is of especial 
value to those who desire to fit themselves for the general practice 
of analytical chemistry, and for positions in such laboratories 
as those of railroads or manufacturing establishments. The third 
option gives a training in problems relating to the purification 
of water and sewage, the examination of food supplies, and in- 
dustries in which bacterial action plays an important part. It is 
particularly designed to equip the student for the management of 
municipal laboratories. The fourth deals with assaying and metal- 
lurgical processes, including laboratory practice, and affords a prepa- 
ration for management of blast-furnaces, smelters, etc. The fifth, 
with additional mathematics and pure physics, is intended as a 
training for teachers. 

The Course in Chemical Engineering is adapted to meet the 
needs of students who wish to obtain such a knowledge of me- 
chanical engineering and chemistry as will enable them to deal 
successfully with the application of chemistry to the arts, especially 
to those engineering problems which relate to the use and manu- 
facture of chemical products. A greater proportion of the time is 
devoted to mechanical engineering subjects than is given to chemical 
subjects, and the training is more largely that of the mechanical 
engineer than of the chemist. A liking for mathematics and draw- 

['51 



Wfyt spasaaclmtfetts ^Institute of tEecfmologE 



ing, and facility in these branches, are therefore essential qualifica- 
tions for students who select this Course. 

Fourth-year instruction in chemical engineering has been so 
arranged that the student can exercise a certain choice as to the 
topics to which he will devote special attention. He may receive 
instruction in textile coloring, in case he expects to find employ- 
ment in the textile industries j in heat measurements, to fit him 
especially for operations involving the use of furnaces ; in organic 
chemistry, if he intends to engage in the manufacture of dyes or 
other organic products ; or in machine design, or hydraulics, if he 
desires to extend his engineering training. Graduates of this 
course find employment as engineers having to deal with problems 
of construction and administration in dye works and bleacheries, 
oil refineries, gas works, sugar refineries, soap works, paper and 
pulp mills, fertilizer works, chemical works, and various other 
branches of industry. 

In 1882, in view of the increasing importance of electrical 
science, the Corporation established a Course in Electrical Engineer- 
ing, setting an example which has since been followed by almost 
every large technical school, and founding a Course which is now 
one of the largest in the school. 

Recent generous gifts to the Institute have made possible the 
erection of the new Lowell Laboratories of Electrical Engineering. 
These laboratories cover about 45,000 square feet, and, with their 
unusually complete equipment, offer facilities for instruction and re- 
search which are unsurpassed in this country or abroad. The Course 
in Electrical Engineering is intended to meet the demands of those 
who desire to enter upon the practice of any of the various appli- 

_ cations of electricity in the arts, as, for example, 

Electrical 

_, . . telegraph and telephone engineering, electric light- 

Engweering. . 6 / . F * ' ■ 6 ' . s 

ing, electric railway work, and the electrical gen- 
eration and utilization of power. Such work requires a knowledge 
of structures and machinery ; and, accordingly, the Course embodies 
instruction in the principles of mechanism, mechanics, the strength 
of materials, thermodynamics, and steam engineering. At the same 
time a considerable training in pure mathematics and in the theory 

[16] 



i 




miM 



W$z 2pas#actmsett$ ^Institute of tEecfjnologp 

of electricity is required. As the Course advances, a greater 
proportion of time is given to technical electrical studies, including 
such subjects as dynamo-electric machinery, periodic currents, elec- 
trical measurements and testing, and the various technical applica- 
tions of electricity. 

The Course in Biology is designed for students who want a 
thorough training in the principles of the subject, and desire 

eventually to become biologists, bacteriologists, investi. 
Biology. y , -n • r i. 

gators, or teachers ; to engage practically in one of the 

various fermentation industries, or in the public health service ; or 
to enter those higher medical schools which now require, besides 
the regular bachelor's degree, special preparation in biology, physics, 
chemistry and modern languages. In all of these lines, but espec- 
ially perhaps in bacteriology, the sanitary or public health sciences, 
and the higher preparation for medical studies, useful and inviting 
careers are open to earnest and capable students. 

The Course includes a generous allowance of chemistry, physic?, 
and modern languages, as well as so much of mechanical and free- 
hand drawing as is required of most first-year students, and the 
same amount of English literature, history, and political economy 
prescribed for the engineering Courses. More geological instruc- 
tion is provided than in other Courses, excepting those in Geology 
and Mining, so that the training afforded by the Course in Biology 
is especially broad and liberal. Abundant facilities for the practical 
work are furnished in the various laboratories of the Institute, es- 
pecially those of chemistry, physics, physiology, and bacteriology. 

A Department of Physics was part of the original plan of Presi- 

n . . dent Rogers, and was created soon after the founding 

Physics. 6 ' ° 

of the Institute. It has since grown to be one of the 

best equipped departments of the Institute, with a teaching force of 
sixteen. 

The Course in Physics is of a distinctly scientific nature. It 
contains a series of studies adapted to the needs of those who wish 
to become teachers of physics, or who desire to enter upon a course 
in pure science, whether with a view to its further continuance or 
wholly as a matter of training. Its leading features are a thorough 

[17] 



W$t spastfac&uswts? ^Institute of Gtafjnology 

and continuous study of the various branches of physics, and a treat- 
ment of mathematics advanced considerably beyond the require- 
ments of any of the technical Courses. General, theoretical, ana- 
lytical, and organic chemistry occupy a position next in prominence 
to mathematics, and of hardly less importance. Options are so 
arranged that the student may select more advanced work in either 
mathematics or chemistry. 

To meet the wants of students desiring to prepare for entrance 
into the various electro-chemical or electro-metallurgical industries, 
the Institute has established a course of study leading particularly to 
this end, and planned as an option in the Course in Physics. Its 
main features are a very thorough training in electrical and chemical 
subjects, which extend throughout the whole Course, and the dis- 
tinctly professional work in electro-chemistry, which runs through 
the fourth year. The electrical studies include courses in theoreti- 
cal electricity, periodic currents, and the theory of alternating cur- 
rent machinery, an extended laboratory course in electrical meas- 
urements and testing, and a course in direct and alternating current 
generators and motors and power transmission, with practice in the 
laboratory of electrical engineering. The instruction in chemistry 
is devoted chiefly to courses in analytical, theoretical, and industrial 
chemistry. The work in electro-chemistry extends throughout the 
fourth year. During the first term the theory of the subject is 
taken up in a course of lectures which are accompanied by extended 
laboratory practice in electro-chemical measurements. The results 
obtained in the laboratory are discussed in a series of conferences. 
In the second term the instruction is continued by courses of 
lectures on applied electro-chemistry, including electro-deposition, 
accumulators, electric furnaces and their products, electrolytic 
processes, and electro-metallurgy, and by work in the laboratory of 
applied electro-chemistry. 

For students who wish a general training in pure science with a 

_ m view to teaching or research, the Institute has for some 

General . . . . ' . , _, 

Science. time mac * e Provision, particularly in the Courses in 

Physics and Chemistry. In addition to these, it has 

recently been decided to establish a Course in General Science, 

[18] 



W$t $0wut\)\xmt$ ^Institute of tEectjnoicg? 

intended chiefly as a preparation for teachers. The Course will 
embody the general scientific studies required in all Institute Courses, 
but beyond that is intended to afford considerable liberty of choice 
as to the selection of the branches of science to be pursued. 

The Course in Geology affords a general education in natural 
science, with special training in geology. The occupations which 

its students may naturally have in view include employ- 

Geology. ui • • , i 

ment in responsible positions upon local, state, or 

national surveys, practice as professional geologists in any of the 

economic or technical relations of the science, or in connection 

with collegiate or other institutions. The demand for men who 

have united topographic with physiographic and geologic studies has 

been increased by the modern methods of conducting governmental 

and other surveys. That the students may be better prepared for 

such work, the amount of topographic, geodetic, and hydrographic 

surveying is larger than has been common in geological courses. 

The Course in Naval Architecture was established in 1893, after 
a preliminary experience of four years with an 
Architecture °P t ^ on f° r students of engineering. This Course 
provides a thorough training in the theory and 
methods of designing and building ships, together with a study of 
the properties requisite for safety and steadiness at sea. It aims to 
furnish a well-rounded preparation, appropriate for those who ex- 
pect to enter the regular work of the profession as ship-builders, 
ship-designers, ship-managers, or marine engine builders. So great 
has been the demand in recent years for training in naval archi- 
tecture that the Course now numbers in all eighty-five graduates. 

The Institute has been selected by the United States Naval De- 
partment to give professional instruction to officers designated for 
the corps of naval constructors. A special course covering four 
years is given, including, in addition to the general training and the 
professional work of the regular four-year Course, thorough instruc- 
tion in the theory and practice of war-ship design. Much attention 
is given to electrical engineering, and especially to the applications 
of electricity on war-ships. 

In connection with all these Courses a high grade of thesis work 

[19] 



tEtje $pas#act)tt$ett0 3f|nstitute of Qtatmologp 

is maintained in the fourth year. Many of the theses prepared by 
Th the students as a condition of graduation have been 

published in the Proceedings of the Institutes of Mining 
Engineers, of Civil Engineers, of Mechanical Engineers, in the 
Chemical Journal, in the Proceedings of the American Academy of 
Arts and Sciences, or in other connections. It is intended that all 
the thesis work done shall attain the character of original investiga- 
tion or design, and shall show in the cases of successful candidates 
for the degree the capability to initiate and conduct, upon strictly 
scientific principles and by approved methods, tests, experiments, or 
constructive work. Whenever the nature of the investigation, 
research, or design, is such as to render collaboration necessary or 
useful, two students are allowed to work together upon a thesis. 

Graduate Courses, with or without reference to the advanced 
degrees of Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy, and Doctor 

of Engineering, may be pursued by students who satisfy 

Graduate . # , f u ■ • c u i 

r the faculty or their preparation for such work. 

Schedules of such Courses have been arranged in 
several departments, and are published in the Catalogue ; but they 
are intended only as typical, and do not limit in any degree the 
wide range of subjects from which such students may elect the 
courses they wish to pursue. More and more attention is being 
paid, also, to research work. Within the last three years there 
have been established, as distinct departments of the Institute, the 
Graduate School of Engineering Research, the Research Laboratory 
of Physical Chemistry, and the Sanitary Research Laboratory and 
Sewage Experiment Station. These will be found fully described 
in special pamphlets. The work of these departments, aside from 
its value in adding to scientific knowledge, is likely, in fostering 
the spirit and ideals of research, to be of far-reaching consequence 
in connection with all the work of the school. 

The degree of Bachelor of Science (S.B.) is given for the 
successful completion of any one of the four-year courses. The 
degrees of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy are 
offered for the completion of advanced courses of study ; and 
that of Doctor of Engineering for the satisfactory accomplishment 

[20] 



tKtie $pas#actm$ett0 31n$titute of tEectmologp 

of a course of original investigation in the School of Engineering 
Research. 

Summer schools are maintained by the Institute in the depart- 
ments of Civil Engineering, Mining Engineering, and Architecture. 
That in civil engineering affords continuous field prac- 

_ „ , tice in geodesy and hydraulics during; about a month. 
Schools. . & . / / a? j j 

1 hat in mining engineering attords students an op- 
portunity to visit mining or metallurgical works, and to become 
practically acquainted with the methods employed by actually tak- 
ing part in them. These summer schools in mining and metal- 
lurgy have been held in all parts of the country, from Nova Scotia 
to Lake Superior and Colorado. The summer school in architect- 
ure consists not infrequently of a trip abroad, with detailed studies 
and sketches of special types of architecture. 

In addition to the professional summer schools, summer courses 

are held at the Institute during June and July. These courses are 

valuable for graduates of colleges who desire to enter 

„ the Institute with advanced standing;, and who for 

Courses. , , • , 

that purpose may have occasion to make up some 

of the work of the earlier years. The courses thus far held at 
the Institute during June and July have included instruction in 
mathematics, chemistry, physics, modern languages, drawing, de- 
scriptive geometry, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, ap- 
plied mechanics, and mechanic arts. A circular giving details in 
regard to these courses will be mailed, on application, about 
April i. 



I 21 



tEtje spa$sactm$rtt0 Jn&titatt cf tTcctmolog^ 



BUILDINGS. 

THE buildings occupied by the Institute are eight in num- 
ber. The two buildings first constructed, known respec- 
tively as the Rogers and the Walker Buildings, are 
situated upon Boylston Street, one of the great thoroughfares of 
Boston, upon land ceded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
The Rogers Building comprises a hall capable of seating nine 
hundred persons, used for public gatherings and commencement 
exercises, and for the lectures of the Lowell Institute, numerous 
lecture-rooms, recitation-rooms, and drawing-rooms, the general 
library, and the administrative offices. The Walker Building, on 
the same square, built in 1883, is occupied by the Departments 
of Chemistry and Physics. In addition to the Rogers and the 
Walker Buildings, four others, three of which adjoin and now 
form one structure, are situated on Trinity Place. The Henry L. 
Pierce Building, the newest of these, is of fireproof construction, 
with steel doors, so arranged that fire can be easily controlled. 
Especial attention has been paid to the heating and ventilation, and 
an abundance of properly tempered fresh air is delivered to all parts 
of the building. The glass in the windows in laboratories on the 
southerly exposure is ribbed to diffuse the light. The Lowell 
Laboratories of Electrical Engineering, on Clarendon Street, afford 
accommodation for the exceptionally complete equipment in elec- 
trical engineering, and for the Department of Modern Languages. 
Indirect heating is applied to all the buildings erected since the 
Rogers Building. 

In addition to these, the Institute has, at the foot of Garrison 
Street, a series of mechanical laboratories, which, with the boiler 
house and chimney, cover about 24,000 square feet on the 
ground. 

Plans are now in preparation for an additional building to be 
constructed in the near future. It will be a memorial of the late 
President Walker, and will be devoted to the social and physical 
interests of students. It will include a large gymnasium, a recep- 

[22] 




NICHOLS LIBRARY, DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY. 



Wtyt ^as#acl)u0ett0 3!nsftitute of tEectmologi? 

tion-room, a library, and numerous small rooms for special pur- 
poses. Toward the erection of this building the alumni of the 
Institute have subscribed more than a hundred thousand dollars. 



LIBRARIES. 

FOR greater convenience of reference, most of the books 
owned by the Institute are arranged in departmental libraries. 
There are in all eleven of these, with an aggregate number 
of over sixty-four thousand volumes. The most valuable of the 
Institute libraries is the William Ripley Nichols Chemical Library, 
numbering more than 9,000 volumes and 1,700 pamphlets. The 
Engineering Library comprises 11,000 volumes; the Physical 
Library, 7,000; and the Library of Political Science, 11,000 
volumes. The Architectural Library comprises 3,000 volumes, 
chiefly illustrated works, and 11,000 photographs. The General 
Library, on the first floor of the Rogers Building, contains a large 
number of reference works, complete sets of the publications of 
the Institute and of its officers, the library of the Department 
of English, and a general card catalogue, showing where every 
book in any collection is to be found. 

The several libraries are so arranged and conducted that a 
student can consult them with the smallest possible loss of time. 
The students have free access to the card catalogues and to the 
shelves. Each library is also used as a reading-room, all the 
magazines and journals belonging to the department being freely 
accessible. The number of periodicals received at the Institute is 
over nine hundred, forming one of the largest collections of scien- 
tific journals, magazines, and reviews to be found anywhere. 



[23] 



®lje 9Dae#actm$ett0 ^Institute of ®ectmologt> 



LABORATORIES. 

A MARKED characteristic of the Institute is the large 
amount of laboratory work embodied in its Courses. Sys- 
tematic experimentation is insisted upon at nearly every 
point in every Course, to illustrate, to enforce, and to supplement 
the work of the recitation-room, the lecture-room, and the drawing- 
room, and also to implant in the student a proper conception of the 
nature and methods of investigation. 

Without attempting a detailed discussion of precise points of 
priority, it may be fairly affirmed that the Institute has led in the 
development of laboratory instruction in physics and chemistry to 
students in large classes ; in the organization and equipment of 
mining and metallurgical laboratories for instruction by treatment 
of ores in large quantities ; in the establishment of a laboratory for 
teaching to large classes the uses and properties of steam ; in the 
establishment of a laboratory for the comprehensive testing of 
strength of materials in commercial sizes by students ; and in the 
recognition of the importance for engineering courses of instruction 
in mechanic arts. 

The buildings of the Institute, in addition to all drawing, recita- 
tion, and lecture rooms, and libraries, comprise several laboratories 
or groups of laboratories. These are : the Engineering Labora- 
tories ; the John Cummings Laboratory of Mining Engineering 
and Metallurgy ; the Kidder Chemical Laboratories ; the Research 
Laboratory of Physical Chemistry ; the Augustus Lowell Labora- 
tories of Electrical Engineering ; the Biological Laboratories ; the 
Sanitary Research Laboratory and Sewage Experiment Station ; the 
Rogers Laboratory of Physics ; the Geological and Mineralogical 
Laboratories ; the Mechanical Laboratories ; and the Geodetic 
Observatory. 

The Engineering Laboratories are the logical outcome of the 
policy pursued by Professor Rogers, the founder of the Institute, of 
supplementing class-room instruction with laboratory work, so as 
to make the student realize what he is studying, and to give him a 

[24] 



Gtye ^assactmtfett* ^Institute of tEeetmoiogp 

proper conception of the nature and method of investigation. 
Their very extensive equipment has been chosen so as to supple- 
ment the instruction in the class-room with experiments upon 
p . . a practical scale, and to give the student practice 

Laboratories in suc ^ ex P er i menta l work as engineers, in the pur- 
suit of their profession, are called upon to perform. 
The laboratories also provide facilities, in connection either with 
the daily exercises or with theses, for considerable original investi- 
gation, and the result has been the publication of a large amount 
of valuable engineering data. 

Students who are admitted into these laboratories have already 
had class-room instruction in hydraulics, steam, applied mechanics, 
mechanism, and valve-gears. They are thus able to begin the 
tests with little assistance from the instructor, so that practically 
the whole of the laboratory period is available for actual work. 

The aim of the instruction is to make them familiar with all the 
different classes of testing, and also with the different methods of 
measurement used in each class. In the work on pumps, for ex- 
ample, the student is given practice in the measurement of water 
by direct weighing, by displacement, by the use of weirs both with 
and without contractions, by triangular notches, by hose nozzles, 
by orifices in a thin plate, and by mouth pieces. Having used all 
these methods the student learns the degree of accuracy of each, 
and becomes competent to judge which is best suited for any similar 
work he may have to do. The different methods of measuring 
steam, heat, and power, are brought to his attention in the same way. 

Classes of about thirty men work in the laboratory at one time 
for a period of about two hours. Ten or more different tests are 
carried on simultaneously. The number of observers assigned to 
any test is determined by the number of simultaneous observations 
required, and is kept as small as is consistent with obtaining accu- 
rate readings. At the end of a test all observations are copied by 
the student on a printed log-sheet, which is kept by the instructor. 
Each student copies on a small, printed log-sheet a summary of the 
observations recorded on the large log. After leaving the laboratory, 
the student computes the results for the test upon which lie has 

[25] 



W$t $)as#acl)u0ett$ Jn&titntt of Cectjnolog^ 

worked, and later hands in his computations and results to be 
examined and corrected by the instructor. 

A detailed account of the equipment of the Engineering Labora- 
tories is given in the annual Catalogue. They occupy a floor area 
of about 23,500 square feet, and embrace the Applied Mechanics 
Laboratory, the Hydraulic Laboratory, and the Steam Laboratory. 

Among the larger pieces of apparatus in the Applied Mechanics 
Laboratory may be mentioned the following : an Emery testing 
machine of 300,000 pounds capacity for tension or compression. 
This machine takes a tension specimen up to twelve feet in length, 
and a compression specimen up to eighteen feet in length. A trans- 
verse testing machine of 100,000 pounds capacity for testing 
I-beams, girders, timber beams, floor systems, etc., up to twenty- 
six feet span; a torsion testing machine of 150,000 pounds capac- 
ity. This machine has sufficient power to twist off a three-inch 
diameter mild steel shaft, and takes specimens under eighteen feet 
in length. 

In the Steam Laboratory, a triple expansion Corliss engine, with 
cylinders, nine, sixteen, and twenty-four by thirty inches ; a 225- 
horse-power, tandem compound, Mcintosh and Seymour engine; 
a thirty-five horse-power Otto gas-engine, provided with gasometer 
tanks for measuring the air supplied, meters for measuring the gas, 
and a calorimeter for measuring the exhaust waste ; a pulsometer 
of 1,000 gallons capacity per minute; and a complete outfit for 
making liquid air. 

In the Hydraulic Laboratory, a thirty horse-power Pelton water 
wheel ; a twenty horse-power American impulse wheel ; a double 
Rife hydraulic ram with four-inch drive pipe eighty feet long; a 
stand pipe eighty feet in height ; twenty-four and forty-eight 
inch weirs, etc. 

Investigations are frequently made upon outside plants ; for exam- 
ple, a forty-hour test on the Westinghouse unit (3,700 horse- 
power) at the Lincoln Wharf Station of the Boston Elevated 
Railway Co. ; and a twenty-four hour duty trial on the Leavitt 
high duty pumping engine at Chestnut Hill. 

The work in the Engineering Laboratories is an important part, 

[26] 



W$t $pa0$ac|)u0ett0 ^institute of ®ec^nolog^ 



not only of the Course in Mechanical Engineering, but of those in 
Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering 
and Naval Architecture. 

Reference may be made to the special circular of the depart- 
ment for plans of the laboratories and a detailed account of the 
equipment and of the tests made. 

The John Cummings Laboratories of Mining Engineering and 

Metallurgy comprise laboratories for the assaying, concentrating, 

- , „ m milling, and smelting of ores, and for the 

The Laboratories of , & ' , . . . 

" , _. , neat treatment and microscopical exami- 

Mining Engineering v 

and Metallurgy. natlon of metals and allo ^ s - The P ur P 0Se 

of the laboratories is twofold, — to illustrate 

the lecture instruction, and to teach the student how to carry out 
mechanical and chemical working tests on ores, fuels, and furnace 
materials. The size of the apparatus is such as not to require too 
much material and time, or too much bodily exertion from the 
student, while at the same time results of real value are obtained. 
The machines are so arranged that they can be worked alone or in 
connection with others, and with variable speed, and the different 
parts of a machine are so put together that they can be readily taken 
apart and single parts interchanged, when the experiment requires 
such a modification. 

The mechanical work is carried on with ore-dressing machinery, 
and the chemical work with metallurgical apparatus. In either 
class of work the student, having received a suitable amount of ore 
for treatment, and having ascertained by mineralogical, chemical, 
and other tests its composition and value, proceeds with the experi- 
ment, measuring, weighing, and assaying, and recording each step 
accurately in his report. The results are, as a rule, of practical 
value in the concentration of ores and in such metallurgical opera- 
tions as roasting, amalgamating, leaching, electro-deposition, etc. 
Those in smelting are likely to compare unfavorably with large- 
scale work. Nevertheless, stress is laid on smelting in the labora- 
tory for the reason that in no other way can a student learn the 
principles on which smelting operations are based, and how to con- 
trol them by chemical analysis, so well as by doing it himself, even 

[27 1 



&\)t £passac{msrtt0 ^institute of tTecimologp 

under conditions where time and money do not have to be taken 
into consideration. In the fourth year students take up metallo- 
graphical studies. 

Among the divisions of the laboratory are a dry assay laboratory, 
which contains a full equipment of balances, besides crucible and 
muffle furnaces for assaying lead, silver, gold, and other ores ; a 
wet assay laboratory where leaching and amalgamating tests, on a 
small scale, are carried on ; and a milling-room, which contains a 
variety of concentrating machines, several stationary leaching vats 
of different sizes, revolving barrels, and a complete plant for ex- 
perimenting upon the electro-depositing and refining of metals in 
the wet way. In addition to these individual machines, in the 
milling-room are found the necessary apparatus for the crushing, 
grinding, and sampling of ores in general; a three-stamp mill, used 
principally for the milling of gold ores ; a Frue vanner with plain 
and corrugated belt ; an Embrey table, two Wilfley tables, and a 
Wilfley slimer ; a circular slime table, a Collom and a Harz jig for 
concentrating different-sized ores ; and, lastly, four steam drying- 
tables. 

Besides these departments, the John Cummings Laboratory is 
provided with a smelting-room, containing several furnaces for 
roasting and smelting ; a room for instruction in metallography, a 
subject the value of which for the mining engineer is being increas- 
ingly recognized in all large works ; a library of over four thousand 
volumes and pamphlets; and a museum. 

The chemical laboratories are among the largest and best 
equipped in the country, including about twenty laboratories for 

students, with places for nine hundred and fifty 

The Kidder . n i c v • j i J 

„ , , workers. 1 he largest of these is devoted to the 
Chemical ...... , . . 

r . . instruction in inorganic chemistry given during the 

Laboratories, & fe 6 

first year to all students entering -from secondary 
schools. This includes the preparation and study of the non- 
metallic elements, such as oxygen, hydrogen, chlorine, sulphur, 
etc., and the study of the principles underlying the system of quali- 
tative chemical analysis, by means of which the constituents of 
common substances can be recognized. 

[28] 




AMALGAMATING PANS. 




STATIONARY LEACHING VAT 




MUFFLE-ASSAY FURNACES. 




COLLOM JIGS AND CONVEX CONTINUOUS ROUND-TABLE. 



W$t spastfacimsetts 31tt0titute of tEPectjnolog^ 

The instruction in qualitative analysis is continued in other large 
laboratories of the Institute by students of the second year, and 
includes the examination of more complex bodies, such as alloys, 
irons and steels, glasses, minerals, ores, and many materials com- 
mon in daily life. This, in turn, is followed by a study of the 
methods for the measurement of the various constituents of which 
these substances are composed ; that is, a study of the methods of 
quantitative chemical analysis. Over two hundred working places 
are provided for these students and the laboratories are equipped 
with all appliances for rapid and accurate work, including an ample 
supply of balances, graduated apparatus, platinum ware, and devices 
for electrolytic work. The desk assigned to each student is avail- 
able at all times during the working hours. 

Smaller special laboratories are also provided as follows : A 
laboratory for water, air, and food analysis, provided with special 
forms of apparatus for this line of work, including the examination 
of potable waters and of boiler waters, of milk, butter, flour, pre- 
serves and condiments of all sorts ; a laboratory devoted to the 
study of optical methods of analysis, with special reference to 
sugars and starches ; a laboratory for the analysis of illuminating 
gas, and of flue and fuel gases, with all of the typical forms of 
apparatus peculiar to this branch of analytical chemistry ; a labora- 
tory for the examination of oils used as foodstuffs or as lubricants ; 
and a laboratory devoted to the study of methods of proximate tech- 
nical analysis, as applied to tanning materials, rubber, paper, etc. 

Several laboratories are devoted to instruction in industrial 
chemistry. The main laboratory is provided with apparatus illus- 
trative of the important general processes employed in manufactur- 
ing plants, such as modes of filtration, evaporation, and crystalization, 
or the grinding, crushing, lixiviating or drying of materials. The 
student is taught to use these pieces of apparatus in connection with 
the recovery of some waste-product, the production of some pure 
chemical, or the study of an industrial process, and is required to 
take into account as many elements affecting the cost and efficiency 
of operation as possible and to make a report based upon his con- 
clusions. In connection with the industrial branch of the depart- 

[29] 



Ctie £$a$m\)umts institute of tErctmologp 

ment there is a laboratory devoted to the dyeing of textile fabrics in 
which the important typical processes of dyeing and mordanting are 
illustrated and carried out by the student. 

The laboratory of organic chemistry is equipped for the prepara- 
tion of typical organic compounds and also for the systematic study 
of the reactions by which the various classes of organic bodies, such 
as hvdrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, acids, and the like, 
may be identified. It is liberally provided with combustion fur- 
naces, bomb furnaces, and facilities for distillation with steam, in 
vacuo, etc. 

The instruction in theoretical and physical chemistry is also ac- 
companied bv laboratory practice for which special laboratories are 
provided, and these are equipped with sets of apparatus for the 
measurement of electrical conductivity, for the determination of 
molecular weights by standard methods, for the measurement of 
small and large changes in temperature, pressure, or electrical en- 
ergv, etc. 

Special opportunities are also provided for advanced students in 
any of the branches of the science named above and for students 
engaged in research as candidates for advanced degrees. 

The new Research Laboratorv of Physical Chemistrv consists 

of a series of seven small laboratories, equipped with all facilities 

for chemical and phvsico-chemical work 
Research Laboratory . , „ . , , 

. _, , , m . — with enamelled thermostats, 220-volt 

of Physical Chemistry. .. . , -« 

direct current circuits, steam-heated stills 

for preparing the purest water, hot closets, steam baths, svstems for 
distributing distilled water, gas, and air blast, well-ventilated hoods, 
and other conveniences. Adjoining these laboratories is a num- 
ber of other rooms devoted to special purposes, such as optical 
measurements, photography, weighing, tool work, and the storage 
of chemicals and apparatus. A skilled instrument maker, a stenog- 
rapher, and a laboratory assistant are engaged in the service of the 
research staff. 

The researches are under the charge of those professors of the 
Institute who are connected with the subject of physical chemistry, 
and are carried out in part by a salaried staff of research assistants 

[30] 



tEfje $$n#$u\)umt8 ^ntftitute of tEectmologp 

and associates consisting of ten members, and in part by fellows 
and graduate students who are candidates for advanced degrees. 
A considerable number of seminar and lecture courses upon selected 
topics of physical chemistry are given each year by members of the 
research staff, and these are attended by all the workers in the 
laboratory, whereby the danger of too great specialization is avoided. 

The following statement of the investigations that have been 
pursued during the year 1903-4 will show the character of the 
work already in progress. Three separate researches have been 
devoted to the study of the electrical conductivity of aqueous solu- 
tions at high temperatures and pressures. These investigations 
have served to throw much light upon the change of physical 
properties through wide ranges of temperature, and upon the 
chemistry of dissolved substances under these unusual conditions. 
Investigations are also being carried on upon the electrical con- 
ductivity of fused salts ; upon that of very dilute acids and bases ; 
upon the migration of ions during electrolysis ; upon the hydrolysis 
of ammonium sulphide in solution ; upon the dissociation-relations 
of sulphuric acid ; and upon the coagulation and migration of col- 
loidal substances. Finally, work, which has been in progress for 
some years, has been continued upon the development of a new 
system of qualitative analysis, which shall include nearly all the 
metallic elements. 

The work of this laboratory, in which the Institute has taken the 
unusual step of establishing a special laboratory devoted entirely to 
research, not only promises to be of very great importance to the 
advancement of science, but is sure to raise the standard of instruc- 
tion in the Institute itself. 

Since the beginning of the year 1902-3 the Department of 
Electrical Engineering has been located in the new Augustus Lowell 

Laboratories of Electrical Engineering 

The Augustas Lowell , , . . m * _--„ 

* erected during the summer ot 1902. 

Laboratories of _, . . 

-, . . , _. . , 1 hese cover an area ot about 45,000 

Electrical Engineering. 

square feet; and, in addition to lecture- 
rooms, include a laboratory of electrical testing, photometer-rooms, 
a number of research rooms, and a main power and testing floor, 

[3i] 



tElje a9as#aclm0ett0 institute of tEectwolog}? 

300 feet in length by 40 feet in width. With its unusual equipment 
the new laboratory offers facilities for instruction and research which 
are believed to be unsurpassed either in this country or abroad. 

In addition to a considerable variety of direct and alternating cur- 
rent apparatus, there is a complete lighting and power plant capa- 
ble of supplying all the buildings of the Institute. This plant 
consists of boilers, direct-connected generators, a surface-condenser 
and a cooling tower, the necessary circulating pumps, and a feed- 
water heater. The output of the generators is delivered to a switch- 
board of modern type and may be distributed to the various 
buildings or delivered to mains running throughout the laboratory. 
With this plant the students may make tests to determine the 
actual cost of the generation of electrical power, taking into account 
all the factors, from the cost of coal. Tests of the plant are being 
carried on this year and the results are discussed in general confer- 
ences from both the mechanical and the electrical standpoint. 

The power plant, the equipment of the standardizing laboratory, 
and the great amount of auxiliary apparatus are fully described in 
the annual Catalogue. The whole laboratory equipment has been 
selected with special reference to its usefulness for purposes of in- 
struction. Although it of necessity comprises many large machines, 
yet the attempt is made to keep the laboratory units small. In this 
way only can a large number of different types of apparatus be 
obtained with a reasonable expenditure. The machines, however, 
are all of a size to illustrate the working characteristics of the 
particular type in question. 

The instruction is planned to give the student at first an idea of 
the principles of operation of each type of machine as a unit, its 
efficiency, regulation, and general characteristics. Afterwards the 
machines are combined in a more or less complicated system to 
illustrate the broader principles of engineering operations. The 
student thus gets a clearer idea of the relations existing between 
the parts of a commercial system than would be possible in a labora- 
tory where only individual units were used. In arranging and 
shifting the apparatus the ten-ton, electrically driven crane, which 
travels the whole length of the laboratory, is brought into use. 

[32] 




STANDARDIZING LABORATORY 




THKKK-PHASK INDUCTION MOTOR, ARRANGED FOR fHESIS WORK 



■■■MBsgxr^n im "V*- 


^^pm*~^ 


IcaCf^^^^ 


^V|'^^ESb 




If^lVTTV 


M^^*^ llll 


, ■«« 


Sfss^Sli 




-^rlU 


fifci^^B^P* t^^^ —- —~~^^^* 


*f*Stei l-f~l 




r 




JV1 




s, tr 




_ 


y mm g 



CONSTANT CURRENT TRANSFORMER. 




THESIS INVESTIGATION OF OIL SWITCHES. 



Wfyt ^ae#acl)usett£ 3jti0titute of {Eec&nologB. 



As an illustration of the problems sometimes undertaken, there 
is being constructed this year, in connection with thesis investiga- 
tion, an artificial transmission line, to be used later in the labora- 
tory instruction. After tests have been made upon individual types 
of generators and motors, these will be combined with the trans- 
mission line to illustrate some of the principles of high voltage 
power transmission, such as the relation of motor capacity to line 
constants, the effect of line unbalancing, and the influence of vary- 
ing the capacity and inductance. All such grouping of apparatus 
as this tends to broaden the point of view of the student. It can- 
not, of course, supply the place of that actual practice which must 
come after graduation, and is not designed to do so, but, when sup- 
plemented by conferences on the broader principles involved, this 
practice may give the student a much more comprehensive view 
of the bearing of his experiments upon current engineering practice. 
Throughout the work of this laboratory, as evervwhere in the 
Institute, the student works in small sections under the careful 
supervision of the instructors. Before beginning his work he is 
required to present a statement of its object, the method of attack, 
the apparatus and instruments necessary, and a sketch of the 
arrangement of circuits for carrying out the investigation. This 
plan is commented upon by the instructor and is then turned over 
to the student to be worked out by him individually. He is ex- 
pected to get the apparatus in shape and to connect the circuits, 
and in many cases to construct such small pieces of apparatus as 
he may require, especially in thesis work. Throughout all the 
laboratory instruction such independence of action is encouraged 
and insisted upon, and in addition the importance of original in- 
vestigation is strongly urged. For such research, the facilities of 
the Lowell Laboratories are unusual. 

The Biological Laboratories occupy nearly the whole of one 
floor of the Henry L. Pierce Building and are so arranged as to 

afford opportunities not only for the instruction 

The Biological c , , , , 

or beginners in microscopy, general biology, zo- 
Laboratories. ... 5 . , , / y \ & . , 

ology and botany, but also for others in bacteri- 
ology, industrial biology, and experimental physiology, Most im- 

[33] 



&\)t 2pas#ac!ra£ctt0 Jinstitute of {Eectjnolog^ 

portant of all, perhaps, is the Research Laboratory, provided for 
the use of advanced and graduate students and the younger 
instructors. 

The Second Year Laboratory of General Biology is a large room 
accommodating about forty students and furnished with work tables, 
low-power microscopes, electric table-lamps with flexible standards, 
for microscopic and especially dissecting work; as well as with 
lockers, supply cases, lecture table, blackboard, specimen cases, etc. 
By the use of prismatic glasses in the upper sashes of the windows, 
this laboratory, as well as all the others in this department, secures 
a particularly serviceable light, even in that part of the room re- 
mote from the windows. 

In this laboratory beginners in general biology, general botany, 
microscopy and other elementary subjects are taught how to use 
the microscope, how to prepare simple " mounts," how to dissect 
plants and the lower animals, how to keep a laboratory note-book, 
and how to describe orally with fullness and accuracy what they 
actually do, or what they see through the microscope. Experience 
has shown that training of this kind is of service in every walk of 
life, while for those who intend to pursue more advanced and more 
specialized branches of biology, the training here acquired is in- 
dispensable. 

In the third and fourth years of the Course in Biology students 
work almost constantly in the Laboratories of Comparative Anatomy, 
Histology and Physiology, arranged to meet their special needs. In 
the former, convenient and well-lighted dissecting tables are pro- 
vided, as are also the materials and apparatus necessary for section- 
cutting and microscopical work ; but in the latter a very different 
arrangement prevails, tables being provided with reference to the 
arrangement of measuring apparatus, smoked drums, kymographs, 
and the other apparatus of a well furnished physiological laboratory 
for experimentation, and instruction and research. 

In the Bacteriological Laboratory also the arrangements and 
appliances are such as the special work to be done requires. High 
power microscopes, glass dishes for the cultivation of bacteria, 
nutritive media, incubators, thermostats, stock cultures, and the 

[34] 




PHYSIOLOGICAL WORKSHOP. 




'HYSIOLOGICAL LABORATORY. THE ERGOGRAPH, USED IN STUDYING 
NEURO MUSCULAR FATIGUE. 




PREPARATION ROOM ATTACHED TO THE BACTERIOLOGICAL 
LABORATORY. 




CULTURE ROOM, FOR SAFE KEEPING OF PURE CULTURES OF 
YEASTS, MOLDS, AND BACTERIA. 



Wf)t ^a££ad)u0etts institute of {Dectjnolcgi? 

other paraphernalia of the modern laboratory of bacteriology are at 
the service of the classes. 

Places are provided in the Research Laboratory for fourteen 
workers, who are expected to follow largely their own bent in 
the solution of new problems or the verification of such work of 
others as requires confirmation. This laboratory, receiving light 
from the northeast and the southwest, is particularly adapted for 
microscopical and other work upon minute objects, and, as it has 
recently been rearranged and fitted up with the latest and most 
convenient forms of incubators, culture chambers and other appli- 
ances, it is particularly favorable for research work of an advanced 
grade. 

By means of an efficient staff of teachers and by careful super- 
vision and control these several laboratories are coordinated in their 
respective functions so that the beginner advances in an orderly 
and natural way from the first to the last and, if his progress is 
satisfactory, gradually acquires a training and a point of view 
calculated to develop his common sense, industry, perseverance, 
and accuracy. If, by good fortune, he possesses also independence 
and originality, the very best results may be reached. 

More closely connected with the Biological Department than 
with any other are the Sanitary Research Laboratory and Sewage 
Experiment Station of the Institute, established and supported 
by a friend who for the present prefers to remain anonymous. 
These are located on Albany Street, opposite the Diphtheria Ward 
of the Contagious Diseases Department of the Boston City 
Hospital, and in close proximity to one of the largest sewers of the 
city, from which fresh sewage can be obtained with ease at any 
Sanitary Research hour of the day or night. The laboratories 
Laboratory and are chemical and bacteriological ; and the 

Sewage Experiment station is experimental, furnished with a 
Station. series of large tanks and filters for the 

practical study of sewage purification, such as intermittent filters, 
septic tanks and contact filters, trickling and aerobic filters, etc., 
the whole constituting a very valuable and altogether novel ad- 
dition to the educational facilities of a great modern technical 

[35] 



Wqt ^astfacljusrtts? institute of Cectmologp 



school in sanitary engineering. It is doubtful if any other educa- 
tional establishment possesses a practical adjunct of this kind, 
illustrating its more theoretical instruction in municipal sanitation 
by practical processes of sewage purification accessible for ex- 
perimental and testing purposes to every qualified student. 

The Rogers Laboratory of Physics has an unusually extensive 
equipment of apparatus for both demonstration and physical meas- 
urements, and large additions are made to it every year. The sev- 
eral laboratories are as follows : — The Laboratory of General 
Physics is devoted to instruction in general physical measurements, 
including mechanics of solids, liquids and gases, light and heat. 

The equipment consists entirelv of instruments of a 
Physics. . j 

high grade, and corresponding precision is required in 

the work of the student. Among the more novel pieces of 

apparatus in general use may be mentioned a Zeiss comparator, 

spherometei, and thickness micrometer, a fine Zeiss spectrometer, 

and a comparator from the Societe Genevoise. 

The Electrical Laboratory is provided with electric circuits for 
both direct and alternating currents. It contains an extensive col- 
lection of electrical measuring apparatus for the determination of 
current, potential, resistance, capacity, inductance, wave-form, and 
the magnetic properties of iron. The apparatus has been selected 
with a view to instruction in measurements of fundamental im- 
portance and approved value. 

The Physico-chemical Laboratory is fully equipped to give 
instruction in physico-chemical methods and for research work 
in chemical physics. Among the special pieces of apparatus may 
be mentioned a Berthelot platinum calorimeter, a large Landolt- 
Lippich polarimeter, an Abbe dilatometer and heater, with complete 
quartz accessories, a Zeiss refractometer and comparison spectro- 
scope, and Nernst's and Drude's apparatus for dielectric constants. 
A large electrically heated thermostat, the temperature of which can 
be maintained constant to within a few thousandths of a degree, is 
provided for work in chemical statics and chemical dynamics. 
Work in thermo-chemistry, chemical statics, and chemical dynam- 
ics, is required in connection with the lectures on these subjects. 

[36] 



T&fyt spae&actmsetts ^Institute of {Eecfmologv 



The Electro-chemical Laboratory provides for instruction both 
in electro-chemical measurements and in applied electro-chemistry. 
The laboratory for the former work has been equipped with every 
convenience and facility for carrying on electro-chemical experi- 
ments. Each student is given a large desk provided with four 
circuits of 2, I2J^, 25, and no volts, from each of which cur- 
rents up to 10 amperes can be taken at all times. An adjustable 
rheostat of corresponding capacity is also provided and wired 
directly to terminals on the switch-board at the front of each desk. 
Water, gas, and suction are provided at one end of each desk, and 
a large electrically heated and regulated thermostat at the other. 
In addition to the usual apparatus required for chemical work, each 
student is given a very complete equipment of electro-chemical 
apparatus. 

The work in applied electro-chemistry is intended to illus- 
trate, on a fairly large scale, the more important industrial proc- 
esses involving the mutual transformations of electrical and chem- 
ical energy. For this work a special laboratory adjoining the 
preceding has been equipped with a 25-kilowatt, double-current 
motor generator, which may be connected to give 1,000 amperes 
at 25 volts or 2,000 amperes at 12^ volts. This generator 
supplies the students' desks with I2J^ and 25 volts, and also the 
electric furnaces for electrolytic reductions on a large scale. For 
electric furnace work requiring heat alone the laboratory is also pro- 
vided with alternating current at 1,000 volts, which, by means of a 
special 50-kilowatt transformer designed in the department, is 
stepped down first to 160 volts and then in steps of ten volts each 
to ten volts. 

The Laboratory of Heat Measurements is devoted to the study 
of accurate thermometry, the measurement of high temperatures, the 
determination of the efficiency of fuels, and the study of intense 
sources of heat, such as the electric furnace. It is well equipped 
with standard apparatus for these purposes, and contains also much 
original apparatus, especially that in use for the technical measure- 
ment of thermal conductivity and for the regulation and control of 
high temperatures. There is also apparatus for the determination 

[37] 



Ww spastfaclmsettsf institute of {Rectwologg 

of the mechanical efficiency of explosions and for the study of the 
velocity of propagation of explosions. The Laboratory of Acous- 
tics is especially designed for experimentation and research on 
sound and its applications, including the acoustic side of telephony. 
It contains an excellent collection of standard forks and other 
acoustic apparatus. The Optical Laboratory provides facilities for 
students to familiarize themselves with the more important optical 
methods and instruments now in use. Facilities are offered for 
advanced work in spectro-photometry, and for work in photog- 
raphy, for which special dark rooms are provided. 

The Geological Laboratory embraces laboratories of mineralogy, 
lithology and structural geology, and economic geology, provided 

with apparatus, models, and charts for the study 

The Geological f I , j t • a ■ 

. „ or crystals and geologic structure. An extensive 

Laooratory. . rr ri _ 

collection of specimens forms part of the equip- 
ment, — minerals, series of rocks in trays and in thin sections for 
use under the microscope, illustrations in structural geology, a 
collection of dressed blocks of building and ornamental stones, and 
an extensive series of ores and other economic minerals. A separate 
room is used for blowpipe work in determinative mineralogy. 

The geological library contains about thirteen hundred bound 
volumes and several hundred pamphlets ; and also the current 
numbers of leading serial publications. In the historical laboratory 
of geology are two hundred drawers of specimens of fossils and 
rocks, stratigraphically arranged. There is also an exhibition case 
of specimens arranged in like manner, and a case of eighteen 
large drawers filled with maps, sections, and drawings. Here in- 
struction is given in stratigraphical palaeontology ; and here, also, 
geological maps and sections are drawn, field notes revised, and 
the results of investigations prepared for final presentation. 

The Mechanical Laboratories of the Institute were founded in 
1876. In 1883 a new and extensive equipment was provided, 
Th M h ' I coverm g aD °ut twenty-four thousand square feet 
Laboratories °^ ^ oor s P ace# These laboratories were the first 

established in this country to give instruction 
by the Russian method, which has as its aim the systematic instruc- 

[38] 




THE GEODETIC OBSERVATORY. 







INTERIOR OF THE OBSERVATORY. 



W$t 2pas#act)tt$etts; 3f|n$titute of tEecfmologn? 

tion of the student rather than construction. Instruction is now 
given in carpentry, wood turning, pattern work, foundry work, 
forging, chipping and filing, and machine-tool work. The aim of 
the several courses is a systematic training in the fundamental 
typical operations to be performed with the tools and appliances 
suited to each art, including instruction in the methods of sharpen- 
ing and adjusting all edge tools used, with a discussion of the 
proper cutting angles, speeds, and feeds for the various materials 
worked. Attention is also given to the principal properties and 
characteristics of the materials used in each art. 

Instruction in each course is given by means of a series of proj- 
ects or models in which the systematic training and advance of 
the student, precision, the cultivation of the powers of observation, 
judgment, and foresight, and orderly habits are the main ends 
sought. The instruction is mainly oral, each new operation being 
described and discussed just before the work is to be undertaken. 
As a rule the entire class is engaged upon the same or similar 
projects, and all work is executed from suitable working drawings. 

The engineering students enter these laboratories for the purpose 
of acquiring mental as well as manual training ; they also inci- 
dentally acquire a knowledge of the practical methods of con- 
struction, which is of great value to the designer. With this in 
view the student is not required to repeat work sufficiently to be- 
come expert, but ample practice is given to enable good work to be 
done in a reasonable time. When a piece of work is brought to 
the standard in respect to dimensions, fit, and finish, another more 
advanced project is started, comprising elements already acquired 
combined with others which are new. Useful projects are intro- 
duced whenever they are consistent with the systematic arrange- 
ment of the exercises. 

A detailed account of the equipment will be found in the annual 
Catalogue. The laboratories are used chiefly by the students in 
Mechanical, Chemical, Electrical and Sanitary Engineering, and 
Naval Architecture. During the year 1903-04 two hundred and 
six students in all were taking instruction in wood-working, one 
hundred and thirty-two in forging, one hundred and sixty-four in 

[391 



&\)t £pae#acl)usett0 jfnstimc of Crctmologp 



The Architectural 
Drawing=rooms. 



chipping and filing, and one hundred and seventy-five in metal 
turning and machine-tool work. 

No account of the equipment of the Institute would be complete 
without mention of the complete facilities for their respective lines 
of work possessed by the Departments of Architecture and of 
Civil Engineering. Since 1883 the Department of Architecture 
has changed its location three times, to meet the demands of increas- 
ing classes. Instead of the original small 
quarters on the upper floor of the Rogers 
Building, it now occupies two and one-half 
floors in the Pierce Building, besides a large room for modelling 
in another building. The drawing-rooms accommodate over two 
hundred students. The department has a magnificent library and 
a very large collection of photographs and lantern slides. 

The drawing-rooms of the Departments of Civil and Sanitary 
Engineering occupy the two upper floors of the Engineering Build- 
ings A and B, and have desk accommodation for two hundred and 
forty-five students. For instruction in geodesy and astronomy 
there is a geodetic observatory, situated in the 



The Geodetic 
Observatory. 



Middlesex Fells, within easy reach of Boston. It 
is so placed as to be well protected from disturb- 
ances in magnetic experiments. It is equipped with a transit 
instrument, a sidereal chronometer, a chronograph, a magnetometer, 
a dip circle, an altazimuth instrument, and many smaller appli- 
ances. In this observatory students have opportunity to become 
familiar with the most refined methods of determining latitude, 
longitude, time, and azimuth. Observations are also made with 
the magnetic instruments, the conditions for this work being espe- 
cially favorable. While the observatory is chiefly for the use of 
graduate students in geodesy, it is also used by regular students in 
civil engineering. All students taking the advanced course in 
astronomy have practice in the use of the astronomical transit and 
the chronograph in making observations for determining time. 



[40] 



W 



Wqt $pa00actmsett$ 3\n$titutt of tEecfmologp 



CONCLUSION. 

IN conclusion a word of general summary may be added with 
regard to the work of the school. The Institute is at once 
a college and a professional school. Students come to it at 
eighteen years of age, with such preparation as can be obtained in 
the public high schools. They receive first a year of general drill, 

„ , _ „ mainly in mathematics through analytic geom- 

Qeneral Outline : r . , . ■. , , . 

. r etr y> in chemistry, and in mechanical drawing. 

A preliminary choice of professional course is 

made at the middle of the first year, but divergence is slight until 

the beginning of the second year. In the second year, physics and 

calculus are common to most Courses, and elementary professional 

subjects are undertaken ; for example, surveying for students in 

civil engineering, mechanism for those in other engineering Courses, 

and qualitative and quantitative analysis for those in the chemical 

Course. In the third year a large proportion of the time, and in 

the fourth year nearly the entire time, is devoted to professional 

subjects. 

Throughout all Courses three principles are kept constantly in 

mind. The first is a close personal relation between students and 

instructors, in order that the needs and capacities 

of students may be accurately gauged, that faults 
of Instruction. , y , . , 7 5 ,\ ' . 

may be corrected, and that good habits may be 

formed. This requires the division of classes into numerous small 

sections for recitations, with proportionately less dependence upon 

the results of final examinations. The second principle is the 

careful adjustment of theoretical and experimental work in the 

courses of instruction, so that the work of the class-room shall 

prepare the student for that in the laboratory, while his laboratory 

work in turn shall serve to fix methods and results in his memory, 

and to give him capacity for further experimentation. In the third 

place, the importance is felt of guiding the student rather than 

merely instructing him. The function of the teacher, it is believed, 

is not so much to impart formulated knowledge as to develop 

[4i] 






&\)t £pas#aclni0ett$ Institute of Ccctmologp 

the power of ascertaining facts and overcoming difficulties. 
To this end the student is trained to work with less and less 
dependence upon his teachers, until in his final year he is re- 
quired to prepare a thesis, which is usually the result of consider- 
able research. 



[42! 




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